Discussions of a proposed or existing contract to which a joint agency may be or is a party for the construction, ownership, or operation of works, plants, and facilities for or incident to the generation, transmission, or use of electric power and energy or the purchase, sale, exchange, interchange, wheeling, pooling, transmission, or use of electric power and energy shall be confidential and information relating to such discussions shall not be a public record under Chapter 132 of the N.C. Gen. Stat.; provided that any contract entered into by or on behalf of a joint agency as defined by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 159B-3 shall be a public record unless otherwise exempted by law. (1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 570, s. 11.)